Willingness to Ask for Help Among Persons with Severe Mental illness: Call for Research [2018]

There are times when people with severe mental illness (SMI) must be willing to ask for help (e.g., with managing symptoms). But what makes one person ask for help and another decide to go it alone? We used logistic regression to assess willingness to request assistance among 150 people with SMI. Hispanics were more likely (OR 8.51, CI 2.05–35.36, p < .01) than Caucasians to be willing to ask for help, and people with the highest incomes (relative to the lowest) were more likely (OR 7.23, CI 1.76–29.97, p > .01). Individuals with the most social support (relative to the least) were more likely (OR 12.36, CI 3.01–50.85, p < .001) to be willing to request assistance, and people who were willing to ask for help were more likely (OR 2.07, CI 1.01–4.26, p < .05) than less willing individuals to report being happy. More research is needed in order to better understand predisposition to seek aid, and interventions are needed that promote it.